Possible New Bedford mayoral candidates gathering funds

With a year still left before candidates likely announce their campaign intentions, several potential candidates for mayor have war chests with thousands of dollars on hand, according to city and state campaign finance files.

NEW BEDFORD — With a year still left before candidates likely announce their campaign intentions, several potential candidates for mayor have war chests with thousands of dollars on hand, according to city and state campaign finance files.

Mayor Jon Mitchell, at the end of 2013, had $77,199 in his account, with $40,000 in outstanding liabilities comprising loans from Mitchell to his campaign committee. The mayor said he has a fundraiser tentatively scheduled for June 24, but that he spends "a lot less time fundraising than other mayors" have.

"My focus is on the job," Mitchell said.

His 2011 challenger, state Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral, D-New Bedford, had $55,753 in his campaign account with no liabilities.

Cabral's and Mitchell's campaign accounts could be used in either state or municipal elections, according to Jason Tait, a spokesman for the state's Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

Mitchell told The Standard-Times in March that he had not yet decided whether he would run for a third term for mayor next year.

Cabral is among several candidates who in the past have expressed interest in the mayor's race or are said to be mulling a run.

"Cabral very easily could decide he wants to do it, because he doesn't have to give up his seat," said former Mayor Rosemary Tierney. She said that isn't the case with city councilors, whose terms coincide with the mayor's.

City Council President Joseph Lopes has $3,909 in his campaign account with $20,337 in liabilities, which are loans from himself to his committee. He said he is not concerned about paying those back yet. Lopes has a fundraiser planned this month and another in September, he said.

Councilor-at-large Linda Morad, defeated in 2011's mayoral primary, has $21,932 in her account. She has $4,000 in liabilities, all loans from herself to her committee. Morad has already held an April fundraiser and has a second planned for October, she said.

Councilor-at-large Brian Gomes, who has run for mayor in the past and said he is "always thinking about it," has $2,637 in his campaign account with no liabilities. He said he is holding "a couple" fundraisers this year, including one this summer.

None comes close to money spent in 2011's election, the last contested mayoral race. In that race, the most expensive in the state for the year, Cabral spent a total of $267,425 and Mitchell spent $217,471. Morad, who lost in the preliminary election that year, spent $113,985.

Tom Hunt, a political analyst who worked on Mitchell's 2011 campaign, said either an incumbent mayor or a current officeholder could get by with less money than with how much a newcomer would have to spend. An established politician could spend less than Mitchell did in 2011, Hunt said.

According to Tierney, it remains up in the air how much candidates would have to spend next year.

She said town elections across SouthCoast are a "bellwether of what's going to happen in the city elections," noting low voter turnout in recent town elections.

In April, Dartmouth's election had a turnout of less than 15 percent, Fairhaven turnout was 19 percent.

Just under 19 percent of New Bedford voters went to the polls last year when Mitchell went unchallenged, but nearly 38 percent turned out in 2011 with a contested mayor's race.

"It depends on how discontented the average voter is," Tierney said. "Because lately, what's happening is people just aren't going out to vote — they've had it."